¤=#RIS BATACER WAH KIU YAT PO
1983
中學會考試題預習專欄
歷史 (廿九)
HISTORY (29)
Philip Y.L.
EABER
WOO
MILL & DATA
PRESS LTD.
1. Describe the factors
that explained the success of the Heiji' modernization
1912)
(1870-
That the Meiji. modernization was successful seemed difficult to doubt. Internally, foreign imperialism was generally repelled by 1900. Externally, Japan defeated China in 1894-95 and Russia in 1904-05.
The reasons were necessarily of multiple origins, some long-teru and underlying, othera
short-term and immens
One can start, for
example, by remarking on the tradition of culture borrowing in Japan, Whereas the Chinese found it difficult to accept things Western because of a sense of cultural superiority, the Japanese. found it easy to do so because there were precedents in tradition, One excellent example is how during the Tokugawa times (1603-1868), despite the official ban on all contact with
foreigners,
Western
learning was still imported into Japan (known as the "Dutch learning"). This bad the effect of slowly but solidly preparing
Japanese (especialis
the
868
patriotic samurai of the Meiji restoration generation) for accepting Western technology and ideas in full after 1870.
In many respects, conditions in late Tokugawa times were (by coindence, one must concede) favourable to the Meiji modernization after 1868, The pre-1868 commercial economy was prosperous, for example, a fact that laid a firm foundation for post-1868 economic development. Besides, considerable reforms on Western model had already
been tried by the Tokugawa Shogunate and some progressive, clans, so much so that the Meiji modernization vagj strictly speaking, only a continuation rather than the beginning of reform efforts. The Tokugawa Shogunate had left behind some gunneries and a varied knowledge of Western military techniques for the Meiji government, and the two great clans, Choshu and Satsuma, were in possession of a naval squadron and an army on Western model
respectively. In education, for another instance, nearly half of the male population in Japan knew Luw to read and write by 1870, Western science and
technology were taught.
Politically, the success of the Meiji Restoration in
Japan a new, eng and progressive
government to decide on, carry out, supervise and co-ordinate the reforms. One remembers how reforms were carried out by a declining and weak dynasty in Chine and appreciates this factor of a fresh political start in explaining the Meiji success.
For successful
modernization, the
changes that are effected
must be wideranging, and
the Meiji modernization
WAB
successful because
"the" reforms were
comprehensive in coverage, Unlike China which in 1862-94 undertook limited military-technological changes only, Meiji Japan experimented with Western institutions and ideas M also. Agriculture. industry, education, the military and- ideology-almost every. part of Japanese govern- ment and society was affected. The reform programs were
carried out
at the same time; they mutually reinforced one
another.
Indeed, the policies of the Meiji government were both realistic and practical, As the Meiji leaders were modernizing' their country, they worked out an overall plan for the purpose, The different measures of modernization were carried out gradually, not violently. Any non- necessary instability was cut down to a minimum; one must recall, in this respect, that the 1868 Restoration was not g bloody revolution that turned the social- political order upside down As Western imperialism was more intense in China than in Japan, the Meiji state was, relatively
given a better Peaking,
opportunity to modernize itself.
But in the last analysis, had it not been for the widespread enthusiasm for
modernization among the
and the strong people sense of
the Mei Social unity,
government
might have failed in modernizing the country in (comparatively) so short a period of time. Nationalism, then, provided the key to LAE Meiji successes. The
strong feeling of. nationalist belonging was. partly rooted in Japanese tradition, as
unquestioned loyalty and obedience to superiors were accepted without doubt by the Japanese, and partly promoted by the Meiji government itself, which deliberately cultivated nationalism through the increasingly authoritarian education system and the Shinto (Emperor-centred)
ideology.
To date, the success of the Meiji modernization seems still unsurpassed in history, In going into the reasons for it, we must consider not only the circumstances when the modernization took place but also the intrinsic qualities that the Japanese possessed. In short, we must look at the issue from both the outside and the inside,
CAUSES OF THE SCHAMBLE FOR CONCESSIONS (1895– 1900)
A. The upsetting of East
Asia's balance of power by the Sino- Japanese War (1894- 1895)
First, Japan had gained a large indemnity and large territories from China in the treaty settlement. This drove the Weatern powers to seek compensation.
ii. In 1895, the complete
defeat of China by.
Japan convinced the Western powers that Chine vas hopeless. They were
報日僑華
disappointed at the
Ching government's inability to protect foreign trade. They started to cut up the Chinese Empire into spheres where they would safeguard their exclusive interests themselves.
六期星
these agreements,
日九月四年三八九一屦公年二十七國民華中
foreign imperialist-
powers got promises. from China that their spheres of influence would never be ceded or transferred to other
powers.
B. The growth of European COURSE OF THE SCRAMBLE
imperialism
The wave of expansion of the European powers started in Africa: ande the South Pacific in the 1880s. By the 1890s, most of the available territories in these regions had been absorbed. Then European attention began to turn to East Asia.
C. The increase in great-
power rivalry and the challenge to British power
Ever since 1860, with supreme power,
Britain had prevented other powers from further territorial expansion. However, with the creation of alliances in Europe in the late 19th century, international rivalry between the European powers became more intense, Russia, France and Germany came to challenge Britain's economic supremacy in the Far East.
is to the
Japan's gains.
the balance of peiser
"Krowth of
Euripian
imprciation
ORIGINS, OF THE SCRAMBLE FOR CONCESSIONS,
1895-190μing,
Increase
D. rear and jealousy
among the great powers
Instead of sharing equal commercial rights as before 1894 the foreign powers after 1895 sought exclusive privileges and territorial:
i.
concessing from China. The Scramble for Concessiona basically arose from:
the fear of losing benefits to other powers like Japan, an unwillingness to fall behind in the scramble for territorial or economic gains, and
Que
the response and reaction to another's acquisi- tions in China.
PRIVILEGES SOUGHT BY THE POWERS
Economic and
territorial demanda- railway and mining rights
b. loans extended to China in exchange economic for more concessions, and leased areas, with reduced laud tariffs, rights of police power, etc. Spheres of influence
When the above rights had been. gained by a foreign imperialist power in a certain area of China, "a sphere of influence" was in effect created. That: power would enjoy exclusive privileges (i.e privileges that only that pover enjoyed).
Non-alienation agreements By
FOR CONCESSIONS. 1900
ii
1895
A. The Triple
Intervent
ation of april -1895
Germany, France, and Russia worked together. to force Japan to give China back the Liaotung Peninsula, which China had been. forced to cede to Japan in the treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
France and Russia exploiting Chinaa weakness, 1895-1896
All the three powers, of the Triple. Intervention tried to obtain advantages for themselves by gaining the gratitude of the Ching government. Almost immediately, both France and Russia sought rewards for the help they had given China
The Franco-Russian loan to the Ch'ing. dynasty - In July 1895, the Russians and the French offered a joint loan to China to enable her to pay the indemnity to Japan. (i. Russia in Manchuria
In 1896, Russia asked. for the extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway through. Manchuria as a reward. After some
negotiation, a Sino- Russian agreement was reached in June 1896, by which
Russia was permitted to build a railway. aeroas Manchuria, known as the Chinese Eastern Railway,
A Russo-Chinese mutual defence. treaty was signed, by which both countries agreed to defend each other. against any future Japanese aggression.
C. Franco-British rivalry in Southwest China, 1897
i.
In 1897, Britain succeeded in opening up Southwest China and getting the right to build a railway connecting Southwest China and Burma for trade.
ii. France regarded such
British gains as a serious blow to French interests. As compensation the French government obtained from China. the right to extend one of the French Indo-China railways- to Southwest China, together with priority mining rights in Kwangtung, Kwangsi and Yunnan. German and Russian gains in North China and the reactions of other powers.
German occupation of Kiaochow und Russia's reaction, 1897–98 – a. Meanwhile, Germany was actively in search of a naval port in the Far East. Counting on friendship with Russia, the German government decided on the Kiaochow. Bay
(膠州)) in
Shantung.
In November 1897, two German catholic miasionaries were killed in · Shantung
d.
With such an excuse,
Germany seized
Kiaochow by force,
In early 1898, China was forced to lease. Kinochow to Germany for 99 years; together with some railway and mining righta
Russian occupation of Liaotung and the reactions of other powers, 1897-98 To balance. the
German gains, Russia decided to take Part
Arthur (2) and Dairen (
оп
the Liaotung Peninsula. In March
1898, the Russian government got all she wanted from China: the two ports were leased for 25 years, and a South Manchurian Nailway would be built to link up the Chinese Eastern Railway and South Liaotung. British and Japanese gains in Central and Southeast China British occupation of Weihaiwei U8 131 ) and the British sphere of influence in the Yangtze Valley, April 1898-
Britain leased Weihaiwei in
Shantung es a naval base in April 1898, despite the fact that the port was unsuitable for naval purposes. Tuis was because Weihaiwai was situated directly opposite Port Arthur (Russian-leased) At the same time the rich Yangtze Valley, which covered about 3,000 miles, was turned into a British- sphere of influence. ií, Japan's sphere of
iLfluence in Fukien At this moment, Japan got a non-alienation agreement for the Fukien province from Chinu. Fukien was "chosen because it was adjacent to Formosa,
Japanese colony since 1895.
F. Further expansions of France and Russia and reactions of Britain
French occupation of the Kwangchow Bay (
Hand Britain's reaction, April 1898
in April 1898, France leased the Kwangchow Bay on the southern Chinese coast.
b. This in turn aroused
British anxiety."To
counter-balance the French gain, Britain obtained the lease a of the New Perritories opposite Hong Kong in June of the same year.
REASONS FOR CHINA NOT: BEING PARTITIONED
Even by 1900, however, China had not been broken up into separate colonies by the foreign povera.
This was not due to th Powers' concern over. China's well being. Instead, the following reasons might explain it. The lack of general agreement among the great powers on the partition of China
It was rivalry and jealousy, especially between Britain and Russia, that primarily caused the Scramble for Concessions. Thun when the rowers challenged, assisted, forestalled or reacted to one another's gains, some
policy of
育教僑
"compensation" made sure that no great
power could completely dominate one Chinese region without another power overseeing her from a neighbouring place.
B. The lack of desire
among the great powers to take up administrative responsibility
China's age-old -civilization and
China's vast geo- graphical size convinced the powers that outright colonization was not only dangerous but algo difficult and
ii
unrewarding. Moreover,
the
interests of the powers in China were mainly econòmic, rather than colonial in nature. No power, not even Husaia, wanted" to turn its sphere of influence into a colonial possession.
success of peaceful adjustment and the decline of great-power rivalry by 1899
The
great powera succeeded in adjusting their conflicts and overcoming their rivalry by some bilateral peace agreements reached between them. These agreements defined the limits of different spheres of influence, which therefore nade sure that any power who stepped into
another powers sphere would be restrained by
all others.
D. The shift in inter-
national attention and the growth of European liberalism
International tension elsewhere in Europe and Africa had the effect of shifting the attention of the great powers from the Far East.
E. The success of the
Ching government in balancing one imperialist power against another.
The
hed
Ch'ing government successfully. employed the balance- of-power method and ski fully made use of the rivalries among the great powers to. offset 'one power's gain by another. Therefore in 1898, China welcomed the lease of Weihaiwei Britain as a check on Russia's lease of Port (Arthur.
to
F. The effect of the
Boxer Uprising (1900– 01)
The Boxer disturbances showed that the Chineas were prepared to resist and attack foreigners. The foreign powers were thus restrained from further aggression in China.
G. The acceptance of the
Open-Door policy by all the great powers by 1901 (See below) THE OPEN-DOOR POLICY OF THE US
From 1898 to 1899, Britain had twice approached the US for joint-efforts to advocate an Open-Door policy in China. In September, 1899 {the American Secretary of
State, John Hay, circulated his famous Open-Door note to Britain, sort of a balance Germany, Russia, France,
Italy and Japan. It was reached. The